Ret Marut and the Ziegelbrenner

Ret Marut and the Ziegelbrenner

Researchers have been able to piece together enough of his life to know that B. Traven was an actor, anarchist and publisher in Munich from 1915 to 1919. His name was Ret Marut. His daring anti-war magazine was called Der Ziegelbrenner [The Brick Burner]. He fled Germany in 1919, wanted for high treason.

Ret Marut, around 1918

Photo from the Edgar PÃ¤ssler
B. Traven collection at
UC Riverside

The actor-turned-revolutionary published Der Ziegelbrenner [The Brick Burner], a magazine containing "criticism of conditions and loathsome contemporaries" from 1917 to 1921. It was a risky business indeed, considering World War I was raging and imperial censorship displayed little tolerance for criticism of the government or the war effort.

These are the first two issues of Der Ziegelbrenner. Note the brick-like color and shape. Both the Heidemann Collection and the Ret Marut/Ziegelbrenner Collection at UCR contain full runs (40 issues) of this very rare periodical.

Click on an issue ...

During his Munich years, Ret Marut wrote scores of short stories, some of which were published in newspapers. Many others remained in his drawer. He also published An das FrÃ¤ulein von S.....,